New Buffalo outscored host Brandywine 15-6 in the final quarter to claim a 51-42 BCS Athletic Conference West Division win Friday night.

Though the Bison (5-3) never lead until the fourth quarter, the game’s outcome was a far cry from being considered a grand larceny perpetrated by the visiting squad.

Early on, the game saw a lot of back-and-forth between the two squads; with biggest lead between them being a three-point edge Brandywine (6-3) took into halftime.

After the break, it was clear that the Bison’s strategy had switched to an ultra-aggressive defensive pressure format. The Bobcats were able to weather the pressure, to an extent, throughout the third; but eventually succumbed to the pressure as turnover-after-turnover led to easy Bison’ baskets in the fourth.

Austin Knapp finished with 18 points for the Bobcats to lead all scorers and teammate Vinny Peel chipped in with 11 in the losing effort.

New Buffalo had three scorers in double digits as Elisha Dryden (13), Jarek Hotwagner (12) and Marques Artz (11) paced the Bison’ offensive attack.

Though, Brandywine Head Coach Nathan Knapp was visibly disappointed in the game’s outcome, he said as long as his team can learn from their mistakes they have plenty of reason to be upbeat about the direction of their season.

“We let one go tonight,” he said. “It is always hard to compete the way we did for three quarters and then fail to seal the deal at the end. We had open looks we missed, we didn’t move the ball very well at times, and we turned the ball over too much; it’s tough to do that and win.

“Although, in spite of the things we did wrong, we still had a chance to win. I think the guys understand where we went wrong, and are eager to correct those mistakes going forward.”

The Bobcats will return to action Tuesday when they travel to Cassopolis for a BCS non-divisional contest set to tip-off at 7:45 p.m.

 

NEW BUFFALO 51, BRANDYWINE 42

New Buffalo 51

Elisha Dryden 4 4-6 12, Zac Workman 2 3-3 7, Marques Artz 5 1-1 12, Jarek Hotwagner 6 0-0 12, Travis Maddux 3 0-0 8. Totals: 20 8-10 51

Brandywine 42

Zach Schmidt 2 1-2 6, Marquise Davis 1 0-0 3, Cole Searles 1 0-0 2, Matt Vaughn 1 0-0 2, Austin Knapp 8 1-2 18, Vinny Peel 5 1-2 11. Totals: 18 3-6 42

 

New Buffalo               7          17       36       51

Brandywine               9          20       36       42

3-point baskets: New Buffalo 3 (Artz, Maddux 2), Brandywine 3 (Knapp, Schmidt, Davis,), Total fouls (fouled out): New Buffalo 13 (none), Brandywine 12 (none). Varsity records: New Buffalo 5-3, 2-0 West; Brandywine 6-3, 1-3 West